CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- On Nov. 9th a companion & I went to IHOP at 5929 N. Lincoln Ave. for dinner. My companion ordered an egg dish that was ill prepared. I ordered the country fried steak with mashed potatoes and substituted corn for the broccoli. The meat tasted of old grease, the "mashed potatoes" tasted NOTHING like mashed potatoes and was cold. The next morning we, for some crazy reason, decided to go to the same place for breakfast. We were seated, handed menus and the waiter walked away. I went and ask him for a wet cloth so I could clean the syrup from the table where I was seated. He told me he would get it. He came, he swiped, he missed. My companion ordered pancakes this time and I ordered the stuffed french toast and, not learning from the evening before, eggs. I like my eggs over med but when I order them over medium at IHOP in the past, they come to me over easy. So to compensate I ask for my eggs to be over medium well. As my friend ordered pancakes we pulled the syrup tray closer. OMG, the table and the little short wall the syrup sits next to were filthy. Dried syrup with dirt dried in the syrup. The little short wall even had syrup dried on it. The floor under the table had, a spoon, several empty sugar packets, a couple of crayons and enough food for an appetizer. Our food came. My french toast was cold and the eggs were as hard as an egg can get with both sides brown and crusty. When I paid for this filthy, poor food experience I ask if a manager was on duty. The young woman said," Yes, he's here." So I asked to see him. She ask what could she tell him it was about. I said, the dirty restaurant, I'll be waiting be my table. She comes back several minutes later..."oh, he's not here." She ask if I wanted to leave my name and number so he could call me. OH YES. I did, he didn't. So the next day I fill out there on line form, one for each visit. I called their customer service number and told my complaintsto them. I was told someone would call me. No one has.

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Horrible service, Apathetic manager

Posted by Carolyn on 05/09/2012

Rating: 2/51

MANASSAS, VIRGINIA -- On Sunday, May 6th, I visited IHOP #3190 in Manassas, VA with my son and his friend. This is usually one of our favorite places to grab a quick breakfast or lunch when he's home from college. We have always experienced good food and excellent service, which is why this visit was so disappointing and annoying. When we entered, the restaurant was starting to empty out after the post-church rush. We were seated at a booth where the table was cleared but dirty. It took about 5 minutes for the waitress to take our drink orders and then our drinks didn't arrive for another 10 mins. She forgot my water (which I never received) and said she would come back for our food order. We waited another 20 minutes. BTW, the coffee was undrinkable - tasted about 3 days old. Tired of waiting I went to the service station and asked to speak to the manager. He emerged from the kitchen and barely listened to my complaint. He never made eye contact, never apologized, never walked over to our table. I went back to the table and the waitress came over and practically hissed at us as she took our order. She was inexcusably rude. I wanted to leave right then, but my son said we should stay because he was very hungry. We waited another 15 minutes and our food never arrived though the waitress did continue to give us hateful looks every time she walked past. The manager never walked over to check if we'd been served. At that point, I was so furious, I got up and left. There were several waitstaff gathered around the service station doing nothing, so it's not like they were short-staffed. I used to be a regular customer, but I will never ever visit this IHOP again. And, I will be sure to tell others not to go there. BTW, the General Manager's name is [snip] - I picked his card up from the front desk.

I don't know the name of the manager on duty, but he clearly needs to be replaced - he has no sense of customer service and at this rate a popular and busy IHOP will soon go downhill. There are lots of other restaurants in the area for people to go to.

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Worst Service Ever / Horrible Food

Posted by Ivan on 12/15/2012

Rating: 1/51

BRIGHTON, MASSACHUSETTS -- I went to IHOP a couple of days ago with friends. We all ordered our food after waiting for nearly a half an hour for a waitress to come over. When the food was ready, we could see it. We started taking bets as to how long from when the cooks put out our food, the waitress was going to bring it to us. It took her 15 minutes to bring it to us. She was a little busy laughing and talking with her other waitress friends. She was working real hard obviously.

Anyway, we finally get our food and as expected it was barely even warm. We ate it anyway. The quality of the food however was horrible as well. The pancakes were paper thin, very dry, and you could barely taste the cheesecake inside because there wasn't much. Overall, if you want a good breakfast, save yourself some hassle and cook at home.

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For All You Complainers!

Posted by Mander on 04/24/2012

Rating: 2/51

COLUMBUS, OHIO -- If anyone is complaining about food from IHOP other than their breakfast, your an idiot! It's not the international house of shrimp or the international house of milkshakes! It's the international house of freaking pancakes! The mashed potatoes are microwaved! The broccoli is microwaved! The mac and cheese is microwaved! And the freaking oat meal is made from an instant packet right before your food is taken out! Most of the people that come in there to eat expect so much! Don't get me wrong, a customer does deserve great service. But when ya'll start whining about how your "shrimp" from the INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF PANCAKES sucks, you need to be shown to the door and have that plate of food thrown at the back of your head! Even if the servers there do a great job, they only end up getting $2 or $3 tips on checks that usually average out to be $25! When your busting your [snip] for picky [snip]s and are still able to keep a smile on your face, $3 is NOT worth it. So do us all a favor; STAY HOME AND EAT! Ihop is not a fancy steak house. Get over it!

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Servers are holier than thou

Posted by PMm36817 on 12/18/2011

ORLANDO, FLORIDA -- I have worked at IHOP for over a year because I have a tough time finding another job, living in the middle of no where. I'm sure my location isn't the only location where servers are like this, but at my place they act as if they own every one and every thing.

When it's not busy for servers and it's busy for cooks and dishwashers, and it's a situation where the servers can help (like bussing tables since its the server's job, I read over the employee handbook..so I know that for a fact), servers don't help.

When I'm busy washing dishes or taking an over loaded trash can, I don't have time to help any one else. This is usually when the servers expect me to bus their tables for them. When I tell them no, they get mad at me and start leaving dishes all over the place or they'll bus tubs full of dishes every where.

Every time I complain to the manager, the manager tells who ever left the mess to clean it up. As always, no one comes forward and the manager does nothing about it, even though the surveillance camera can see who leaves what and when.

Servers don't tell me when cup racks are full, I don't usually have time to check them a lot, so I have to rely on their word. When I do realize the rack is full and take it down and I don't put a new rack up right away, I'm told that I'm the slacker.

The servers at my work don't even tip me for bussing their tables. They're allowed to, the handbook says any one can be tipped, the servers, cooks, managers, dishwashers. I can even enter any and all tips in to the computer if I received a tip.

The servers also expect me to do other stuff for them that I know they can do. They expect to bring them ice or cups whenever they're low. The thing that makes me mad is they get angry every time I say no. What they end up doing is pushing the clean rack over to their section and expect me to unload it for them right there.

I have seen how things work at other restaurants, if a server needed ice, they get it themselves. I have even seen female servers get their own ice or cups and didn't look like they were angry or pouty about it.

The IHOP I work at, the servers aren't even that attentive. I have seen one server that is so lazy that no one tips her, then goes on to say that the place can't run without her. She left for a few months, place ran fine without her. She actually ended up coming back for a job.

The food isn't even all that great, save your time and go to a better restaurant. There's loads of better restaurants, that are healtheir too. IHOP has loads of unhealthy food.

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IHOP STINKS

Posted by Santiago on 07/08/2011

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS -- Clearly, one can understand why all the IHOP parking lots and empty and why only TEN customers are in any location even at rush hours, as was the case today.

IHOP, 11613 Bandera Road, San Antonio TX 78250
The last three trips here, disaster, but today was the straw that broke the camel's back. We will never return to ANY IHOP ANYWHERE.

Three trips ago, (May 2011) the beef tips were RAW, camouflaged by the sauce of course, I spit them out into my napkin in disgust. I could not eat. I complained when I left and the manager told me I could not complain "because the waitress kept checking on us and I did not order a replacement." Sorry, ma'am, I was too nauseated to order a replacement.

Two trips ago (June 2011) The IHOP canned potato soap was served ice cold in the center,

TODAY, The sign said, "A good meal can make the day," All the customers were laughing and saying, "They should change it to....A Good Meal TAKES all day." We arrived at 1:20 and placed our order at 1:30. Half the restaurant was roped off and closed. The other half ... a total of TEN customers ONLY. Our meal arrived at 2:10 AFTER the waitress kept saying, "It will be five more minutes." We requested tartar sauce (none available), we requested cocktail sauce (none available). (I ordered Talapia). My husband's bread, which we had to request 3 times, arrived as a desert, after we had finished. So it took 35 minutes to receive our order (or I should say the initial part of our order), and the waitress said there was only one cook and they were CROWDED...ten customers. I counted them. When we went to pay out check,
the "system was down", we stood at the register for l5 minutes and I finally asked to see the manager and inquire as to how we could get out of the place....she gave us our meal, along with the other TEN customers, the entirety of their workload...I asked for the receipt so I could call the 800 number for the survey. She gave me someone else's receipt and refused to give me my receipt. This is nothing new. At this location, they refuse customers the right to obtain their receipts to participate in the survey. Additionally, the restrooms are FILTHY..I supposed this is because the staff is overworked with their TEN customers. No paper, no toilet seat cover, the trash cans, all of them were running over with trash, and the walls contained urine. Disgusting. Never again will I ever go into another IHOP. To say the staff and management is INEPT is a compliment to the way this location is operated.

Two managers on duty, one female came out and gave away the meals complimentary due to the poor service. (ten people).
The other manager (male), we watched him throughout our entire meal, he never came out from behind the counter, we could see him from the table, despite l00 percent of the customers ready to walk out, he continued to be preoccupied with entertaining the waitresses behind the counter.

Santiago Cantu

Phone: I-HOP-STINKS

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Very bad management

Posted by kelipso on 10/25/2010

LAWTON, OKLAHOMA -- This IHOP is very bad for not only the customers but even worse for the staff. Night management yells at servers in between the front doors of the restaurant. Welcome to IHOP to watch our disgusting display of public humiliation before you are fully in the building. The manager is very short-tempered and downright rude to the staff. Cooks threaten and scream at waitstaff in front of management, yet no action is taken to stop the scene in front of customers. Night management doesn't even know the menu, and very loudly in front of customers has actually asked a member of waitstaff if the never-ending pancake special comes with pancakes. Servers are punished for calling the district manager and the cooperate office when their checks are: 1. Not right for their hours; 2. Not right for tips reported; 3. Not the correct amount. False write-ups are made to fire people they don't like or people managers are threatened by. Management even writes up employees for doing things management tells them to do. For example: management tells servers not to allow people over the age of 12 to order from the kids menu, then when the server doesn't let a 35 year old woman order off the kids menu the server gets wrote up. Management also tells servers not to charge VIPs for or police officers for their drinks, then when the server doesn't charge for those drinks the server then gets wrote up yet again. Management makes up a lie that the server swore and said things that were never said yet again writes the server up and suspends the server. The server then asks to see the tape of this happening and suddenly the manager claims there is no sound on the tape which is another lie. Then the same manager that claims there's no sound on video tape claims that it was heard on video tape that the server told a customer her phone number and was discussing IHOP personal business with a customer. In actuality the server simply said to a personal friend, "hey give me a call I want to talk to you about something later because I can't right now." All the server wanted to discuss was going to the club they work at with a mutual friend of theirs to cheer him up in hard times. In return, the general manager has fired a cook that was there for years and actually told members of waitstaff it was because that cook knew more than he did. After working in different IHOPs in the state of Oklahoma for over 5 years as not only a server, shift leader, crew chief, manager on duty, and a manager for many years my employment has come to an end due to a managers lies. Time and again has come up that this manager feels threatened because either I or someone else knew how to do our jobs as well as management's jobs.
I am not writing this as any form of attempt to "save" myself or even my job, but rather to warn people of what is truthfully going on in this store. Maybe this might stop a few people who don't deserve this fate which I have been talking about in this complaint. I would gladly have even included my name for all those who I have either served or worked with whom know that I "do not" lie, as well as for all of those IHOP supervisors that are fully aware of my work ethics. However, I am unable to give out this information due to fear of legal actions for "disclosing company policy." If they are suing "The International House of Prayer" which is a church, why wouldn't they sue me?

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Food: Cause of severe illness.

Posted by Cynthia on 12/22/2007

PLANT CITY, FLORIDA -- I'm writing this review because I've simply had enough -- And suffered enough from this restaurant to simply let it go unknown.

On December 20th, 2007 I went to an IHOP restaurant here in Plant City, Florida which had become one of me and my mom's favorite places to stop by for breakfast or to slip in for a quick dinner when we weren't feeling up to McDonalds (although I have to say eating McD's greasy food would have been 100x better than IHOP's).

But anyway. My severe illness began about 3 weeks ago when I ate breakfast at IHOP. All I ordered was the 'Big Steak Omelet', with regular white toast and ate some of it but saved the rest for later. The employees and the service was fine, we NEVER have service issues out of that IHOP but I realized that later on in the day my stomach wasn't feeling too good, in fact, I was becoming really tired and wanted to go home.

So after finishing a day of shopping with my mom we went home and that very evening I became so ill that I was unable to attend school the next day. I was sick to my stomach, but the worse part came the next night when I suddenly awoke around 2:00 A.M. and began to vomit up IHOP (I could tell it was IHOP because this food hadn't even digested) and anything else I might have consumed that day.

It's been 3 or 4 weeks now, and I've regrettably eaten at the IHOP again in hopes that it was just me that day but now I know that it's IHOP's food. It's either too greasy or there's something seriously wrong with the food because I've never, EVER had the same stomach virus for going on 4 weeks. This has caused me to not eat for a week straight at one time and I've only allowed myself to drink fluids, keeping in bed other than to go to the restroom.

My advice to anybody who might be thinking of going to IHOP: Don't do it. It's made me severely ill, and I'm still suffering from the food sickness. What's more is that my oldest brother is now sick from eating at IHOP as well, and has told us that the burger he ate there feels as if it's not even digested in his stomach yet! If you think you've got what I have then here are some symptoms:

- Nausea
- Vomiting (frequently or every now and then)
- Diarrhea (you will know you're sick because your stool will be 100% liquid or will be almost 100% liquified)
- Loss of sleep (due to stomach being upset)

And, I know this will sound weird but your stomach will most likely be so upset you can hear it "growl", as if you were hungry for food but it's not. Burping/Belching is also a symptom I've come to encounter which is followed by a slight 'gaseous' feeling/taste in my mouth afterwards.

I've tried Tums, Rolaids, and even Alka Seltzer but none of these products have been able to relieve my symptoms or stop my discomfort/PAIN. I'm considering going to see a doctor but due to financial issues, I may not even be able to do that.. I'm considering going to the IHOP restaurant and speaking with them about it.

That's all.

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# 3144 @ 5985 University Pkwy in Winston-Salem,NC

Posted by summer and michael on 11/05/2007

WINSTON SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA -- My husband and I, along with our 18 month old daughter, went into the IHOP #3144 on University Pkway in Winston Salem, NC on Monday Nov. 5, 2007 to eat lunch. We were seated by the host, who was about the only decent person working there. After a few minutes our waitress finally came over to take our order. I tried to ask her about what kind of veggies they had(that our daughter could eat) and see just looked at me with a confused look on her face. I had to explain my question three times before she finally got it. She took our order and went away. A few minutes later she came back with our drinks. A few minutes after that with our appetizers that didn't have the sauces it was supposed to have. So, we asked her if we could get the sauces...she said, "sure. I'll get them for you." Yet another few minutes ticked by and still no sauces. But the waitress made her way over to the table next to ours and took their orders. I had to go get the sauces myself from another waiter.

While we waited for our food the people who came in and ordered after us got their food and was about half way done eating when we finally got ours. The waitress brought out a couple of plates and said she'd be right back with the rest. I got my steak order before the salad( she brought that out to me about 10 minutes after my actual meal) and she didn't bring the popcorn shrimp that was supposed to be with my order. She had the nerve to sound surprised when I mentioned the shrimp to her and asked me if I still wanted it. Well, Duh. I wouldn't have ordered it if I hadn't have wanted it.

My husband asked a nearby waitress if she would send the Manager over and she wanted to know why(I didn't think it was any of her business but I didn't say so). My husband told her that we had a complaint about our waitress. A few minutes later the so called "Manager" came over to our table. We explained to him how poor our service had been (even the people next to us chimed in and told him how bad of service we had gotten) and all he did was offer to take the appetizer off of our bill. I didn't like it but didn't argue. Then he said that he would get the shrimp I had ordered. By the time he got back to the table my husband and I had both lost our appetites with more than half our food still on our plates. We waited about ten more minutes to see if someone would bring us our check. No one showed up. Our waitress wouldn't even look in our direction so we could ask her for it.

We saw the "Manager person" again and asked him for the check. When he brought it over he was trying to explain where he had taken off the appetizer when I said I didn't understand why we should have to pay for a meal that wasn't great by any means and where the customer service was horrible. He crumpled up our bill and said he would take care of it. No problem. When we were leaving he walked us to the door and told us to have a good day. I said thanks and was ready to go. When we got to our car another customer came up to us and told us that as soon as the Manager walked back in the door he wrote our tag # down off of our car. My husband went back in to ask him if and why he had done that. The manager told my husband that he had written our tag # down "for the safety of our customers".

What??? My husband asked him what kind of since does that make??? He said we were the ones who had bad food, bad service and horrible customer service and we never raised our voice even once (Lord knows I wanted to)? But, they needed our tag # for the safety of their customers. Riiiight. When we asked for the # for the home office we were told that it was a independently owned so there was on one else we could talk to about our service. If anyone out there knows how we would go about contacted the owner of IHOP store # 3144 Inc. at 5985 University Pkwy in Winston Salem,NC 27105 PLEASE write us back.

Needless to say, we will not be going back.

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My Sunday Morning Waitress Was a Stripper.

Posted by Joseph on 02/12/2014

Rating: 1/51

NORMAN, OKLAHOMA -- I was at Ihop Sunday morning with my family and we were given a table in the corner. My daughter and wife ordered and I was still looking and the waitress said she would come back, and did not for several minutes. Finally we received coffee but only enough for two cups, so again I waited several minutes till I could get her attention for more coffee. (no cream no water)The food came out in parts, eggs but no toast. Sandwich and no fries. We were talking about the food missing and not tasting right and the waitress changed the subject telling my daughter she liked her dress. She said " I used to have a dress like that but shorter, I was a STRIPPER though and I must say its hard to get used to this waitress money." My daughter is 14. I was very unhappy and asked for a manager and did not get one for several minutes so we left and will never return. I wanted a nice breakfast with my family. I thought IHOP was a family restaurant, I didn't want to hear about hooker clothes and receive half of a cold order. My family and I will never go back.